Nail salon

A nail salon manicure.

A nail salon or nail bar is a specialty beauty salon establishment that primarily offers nail care services such as manicures, pedicures, and nail enhancements. Often, nail salons also offer skin care services. Manicures are also offered by general beauty salons, spas, and hotels. People who work at nail salons are usually called nail technicians, manicurists, or nailists.

Nail salons offer a variety of options for nail care, examples which include acrylics, silk or fiberglass wraps, French manicures, polish, and pedicures. Some nail salons offer one-stop beauty services. In addition to nail services, one-stop nail salons offer facial treatments, waxing, and skin care.

Generally, those working in nail salons are referred to as nail technicians. In some areas throughout the United States, nail technicians must hold formal, state-recognized qualifications in order to be able to work at nail salons.

Currently, the industry estimates that almost 40% of nail salon technicians in the US are Vietnamese women. The highest density of Vietnamese nail technicians is in California, where approximately 59-80% of nail technicians are of Vietnamese descent. The majority of these women are Vietnamese immigrants.

The prevalence of Vietnamese women in the nail salon industry dates back to the Vietnam war, which saw large numbers of Vietnamese immigrants arriving in the United States. Tippi Hedren, a Hollywood actress, was involved in a charity which provided vocations to Vietnamese refugee women. The goal of the charity was to help its target demographic integrate into U.S. society. Hedren invited her personal manicurist to teach a group of 20 Vietnamese women the craft of doing nails. The training required for nail salon work is short and inexpensive, the work itself does not require high English proficiency, and the work hours tend to be flexible enough to allow immigrant mothers to attend to family obligations. During this era, the costs associated with opening and operating nail salons were low.

Nail care services

A Havana nail salon.

Nail salons offer the following services:

• Manicures
• Pedicures
• Acrylic overlays and extensions
• UV gel overlays and extensions
• Dip powder nails
• SNS nails
• Silk/fibreglass overlays and extensions
• Nail design
• Nail art
• Shellac nails
• Eyelash extensions
• Eyebrow tinting

Wages and working conditions

Nail salon wages and working conditions in New York City, a major center for nail salons in North America, are poor. In May 2015, an investigation by the New York State Department of Labor, which had been tipped off by a New York Times investigation, had been productive but was incomplete. The manicure workforce consists mostly of recent immigrants from East Asia: many have limited proficiency in English and some are illegal immigrants. Many of the nearly 2,000 nail salons in the New York City area are owned by Koreans, while Hispanics are on the bottom. On May 10, 2015, after the publication of The New York Times investigation, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the creation of an emergency multi-agency Enforcement Task Force to address the numerous problems exposed by the investigation.

Working conditions

There is some evidence to suggest that nail salon workers are subjected to potentially unjust, hazardous working conditions. In surveys conducted on Vietnamese-American nail salon workers, many responses suggested that the work environment may cause negative health consequences. According to Standard 62-1989: Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Quality of the American Society for Heating, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning Engineers, adequate supply of outdoor air should be about 20 cubic feet per minute per occupant. This necessitates multiple pathways for air to enter and exit the room. Such pathways include, but are not limited to, windows and doors. The study revealed that one-third of the surveyed nail salons had only one single door for ventilation with no secondary air pathway.

Due to the nature of salon work, many nail technicians are required to wear masks and gloves. Other surveys conducted on similar worker populations revealed that 90% of workers wore masks and 70% wore gloves to work.

Common responses by interviewed workers included:

• "We know chemicals are dangerous, the owner tells us to wear mask"
• "Says that chemicals are harmful so always need to keep the ventilator on and close lids, covers of chemicals surely."
• "Because I am young and pregnant and I don't want to breathe in the dust and chemicals – I'm afraid that it might affect my child later on"

Chemical exposures

Nail technicians use beauty products like nail polish, nail polish removers, artificial nails, adhesives, and disinfectants throughout the day. Compared to the average individual, they are exposed to the chemical ingredients the products contain on a much higher magnitude. Some of the more potent chemicals are toluene, formaldehyde, ethyl methacrylate (EMA), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). Nearly all chemicals are reported to be eye, skin, nose, and throat irritants. Some chemicals, like toluene and dibutyl phthalates, are known endocrine disruptors. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with endocrine system, which is regulated by hormones. These hormonal disruptors can potentially lead to tumors, birth defects, reproductive harm, neurological, developmental, and immune degradation. Research has suggested that endocrine disruptors pose the greatest risk during prenatal and postnatal development.

The following table is taken from the survey Results from a Community-based Occupational Health Survey Of Vietnamese-American Nail Salon Workers. It lists the chemical ingredients found in nail salon products and associates them with potential health effects. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of all chemical compounds found for all nail products.

Nail products	Common chemical ingredients	Potential health effects
Nail polish	ethyl acetate	irritation eyes, skin, nose, throat; dermatitis
	butyl acetate	irritation eyes, skin, upper respiratory system; headache
	ethyl alcohol	irritation eyes, skin, nose; headache, CNS syndrome; cough; liver damage; anemia; reproductive effects
	isopropyl alcohol	irritation eyes, nose, throat; CNS syndrome, headache; dry, crackin skin
	acetone	irritation eyes, nose throat; headache; CNS syndrome; dermatitis
	methyl ethyl ketone	see above
	toluene	irritation eyes, nose throat; headache; CNS syndrome; dermatitis; dilated pupils, lacrimation; anxiety, muscle fatigue, insomnia; paresthesia; liver, kidney damage
	xylene	irritation eyes, nose, throat; headache; CNS syndrome; corneal damage; dermititis; reproductive effects
	dibutyl phthalate	irritation eyes, upper respiratory system, stomach; reproductive effects (fetotoxic)
	nitrocellulose	unknown
	tosylamide/formaldehyde resin	dermatitis
	titanium dioxide	lung fibrosis; potential occupational carcinogen
nail polish removers	acetone	see above
	ethyl acetate	see above
	butyl acetate	see above
artificial nails	ethyl methacrylate	irritation eyes, skin, nose, throat; allergic contact dermatitis; respiratory sensitizer (asthmagen)
	methyl methacrylate	same as ethyl methacrylate
	butyl methacrylate	same as ethyl methacrylate
	methacrylic acid	irritation eyes, skin, nose throat; allergic contact dermatitis
	methyl ethyl ketone	see above
Nail tips adhesives	ethyl cyanoacrylate	irritation eyes, skin, nose, throat; allergic contact dermatitis
artificial nail removers	acetone	see above
	N-methyl pyrrolidone	dermatitis, reproductive effects
	acetonitrile	irritation eyes, nose throat; asphyxia; nausea, vomiting; chest pain; CNS syndrome; convulsions; in animals: liver, kidney damage

Organizations and coalitions, such as the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance, address worker rights and exposure concerns faced by nail technicians. These movements provide platforms for conversation regarding occupational safety and health, which is a part of environmental justice.

Relevant policies and regulations

State level

• California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005(SB484)

Enacted in 2005, this senate bill requires the full disclosure of all ingredients of products sold in California to the California Department of Health Services. In addition, if the substances are known to cause cancer or reproductive harm, the products will be subject to investigation by the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control.

• California Proposition 65 (1986)

Enacted in 1986, this proposition requires the state of California to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. All California businesses with ten or more employees must also provide "clear and reasonable" warning before exposing any individual to a chemical on the aforementioned list.

Federal level

• Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) (15 U.S.C § 2601)

Enacted in 1976, this federal act provides the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) the authority to regulate certain chemical substances. Currently, cosmetics are excluded from regulation under the TSCA but there have been campaign efforts that hope to extend the EPA's regulatory jurisdiction to include cosmetics.